An internationally recognized authority on Russian economics, politics, and environmental policy; also known for the study and analysis of the political careers of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.

Selected publications: Author of a dozen books on the former Soviet Union and Russia, including “The Piratization of the Russian Economy”; “Lost Opportunity: Why Economic Reforms in Russia Have Not Worked”;“What Went Wrong with Perestroika: The Rise and Fall of Mikhail Gorbachev”; “Gorbachev's Challenge: Economic Reform in the Age of High Technology”; “Petrostate: Putin, Power and the New Russia“.